Chain lock for closures



I Dec. 17, 1957 I w. J. HARNEY 2,816,431

CI-IAlN LOCK FOR CLOSURES William J. Harney, Jersey City, N. J.

Application January 4, 1957, Serial No. 632,438

4 Claims. (Cl. 70-93) This invention relates to a novel looking unit forhinged closures such as doors and gates and has for its primary objectto provide a chain lock by means of which a hinged closure may be lockedand unlocked at either an inner or an outer side of the closure andwhich can be unlocked from either side of the closure only by anauthorized person.

Another object of the invention is to provide a chain lock by means ofwhich a hinged door or other closure may be ajar while locked but notopened sufliciently to permit a person to pass therethrough, so that thedoor may be left ajar for ventilation while still being locked so that aperson could not pass through the door opening in either direction.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a chain lock whichmay be utilized as the sole locking means for a hinged closure or as anauxiliary lock for hinged closures such as doors and which are providedwith a conventional lock.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a chain lock whichmay be locked in different adjusted positions to vary the extent thatthe locked door or closure can be opened, and which may be locked fromthe inside to prevent any opening of the closure.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawing, illustrating 'a presently preferred embodiment thereof, andwherein:

Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view through a hinged closure and apart of the closure frame, showing the chain lock applied to the frameand closure and in an unlocked position;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary elevational view looking to- Ward a portion ofthe inner side of the frame and closure and showing the chain lockapplied thereto and in a locked position;

Figure 3 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken substantiallyalong a plane as indicated by the line 3-3 of Figure 2, and

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view, taken substantially along a planeas indicated by the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the chain lock in itsentirety is designated generally 6 and includes a lower screw eye 7 andan upper screw eye 8 which are anchored in and project from the innerside of the door frame jamb 9 which is engaged by the free side edge ofa door 10, which is hinged at 11 to the other frame jamb 12. The eye ofthe lower screw eye 7 is smaller than the eye of the upper screw eye 8,and is disposed directly therebeneath. A chain 13 is provided at one endthereof with a link 14 which is longer than the other links of thechain. Said link 14 is engaged with and connected to the eye of thescrew eye 7 and extends upwardly therefrom through the eye of the upperscrew eye 8, as clearly illustrated in Figures 2 and 4.

An upper screw eye 15 and a lower screw eye 16 are J Inite States PatentO ICC anchored in the stile 17 of the door 10, which is located adjacentthe jamb 9, and extend from the inner side thereof. The screw eye 16 isdisposed beneath and spaced from the screw eye 15, and said screw eyesare spaced preferably two or three inches from the adjacent edge of thedoor 10, and the screw eyes 7 and 8 are preferably spaced about the samedistance from the inner edge of the jamb 9, as illustrated in thedrawing. The eyes of the screw eyes 15 and 16 are of a size so that thelinks of the chain 13 can pass freely therethrough.

When the chain 13 does not engage the eyes 15 and 16, the door 10 isunlocked, as seen in Figure 1, so that it can be swung to an openposition or a closed position. To lock the door with the chain lock 6, afree end portion 18 of the chain 13 is passed downwardly through theeyes of the screw eyes 15 and 16 and a padlock 19 is then engaged with alink of the chain 13 below the lower screw eye 16. The padlock issufliciently large so that it cannot be passed through the eye of thelower screw eye 16 and will thus function with the chain and screw eyesto effectively lock the door 10. The padlock 19 may be applied with thedoor in a fully closed position so as to prevent any upward movement ofthe chain 13 through the screw eyes 16 and 15 and thus lock the door 10completely closed. The padlock 19 can also be applied so that the doorcan be swung to a slightly open or ajar position, as seen in Figures 2and 3. In this way the door can be locked so that it can he openedslightly for ventilation or other purposes but so that an unauthorizedperson could not pass in- Wardly or outwardly therethrough with the doorlocked as seen in Figures 2 and 3, but may be unlocked from either sidethereof. To unlock the door from the outer side, an authorized personcan reach in through the space between the jamb 9 and door stile 17 tograsp the lower free end 18 of the chain or the padlock 19 for pullingthe padlock 19 outwardly through a restricted gap between the jamb anddoor stile 17, as illustrated by the dotted line position of the door 10in Figure 3. The padlock 19 can then be removed from the chain 13, sothat the door 10 can then be pushed open with the chain 13 slidingupwardly through and out of engagernent with the screw eyes 16 and 15.The padlock 19 may be of any conventional type capable of being openedeither with a key or by a combination.

By utilizing two screw eyes in the jamb and also in the door, it isimpossible for a person to reach through the space between the door andjamb and remove a screw eye from either the door or 'jamb to thusrelease a chain lock, as might be accomplished if the chain engaged onlya single screw eye in the jamb and also in the door.

The chain lock 6 may be utilized as the sole locking means for the door10 or may be employed as an auxiliary lock to a conventional door lock.It will also be apparent that the chain lock 6 may be used inconjunction with other types of hinged closures such as gates, and willeffectively function to permit a closure to be opened to a desiredextent while being maintained locked against entry or exit of a persontherethrough.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may be resortedto, without departing from the function or scope of the invention ashereinafter defined by the apppended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination with a hinged closure and a closure frame jambdisposed to be engaged by the free edge of the closure, a chain, meansfor anchoring an end of the chain to one side of the jamb, an eyefastening anchored to the closure and projecting outwardly from thecorresponding side thereof, the other end of the chain passing freelythrough the eye fastening, and a padlock selectively connected to a linkof said other chain end and supported thereby, said padlock being largerthan the eye of said fastening and engageable therewith to prevent saidother chain end from being drawn back through the eye fastening Whilethe padlock is applied to the chain for looking the closure in apartially closed position such that the padlock is accessible fromeither side of the closure or in a fully closed position so that thepadlock is accessible only from the side of the closure on which thepadlock is disposed.

2. A closure lock as in clairn 1, said means for anchoring the end ofthe chain to the jamb comprising a screw eye anchored to the jamb andconnected to an end link of the chain, and a second screw eye anchoredto the jamb and through the eye of which said end link extends toprevent disengagement of the screw eyes from the jaznb while engaged bysaid chain link.

3. A closure lock as in claiin 1, said eye fastening comprising a screweye, a second screw eye Secured in the closure and projecting from thesame side thereof, said chain extending through both screw eyes and saidpa-dlock being engaged with the chain to prevent disen- 4 gagement of'the chain from either screw eye while engaged by the padlock, saidchain functionng to prevent disengagement of the screw eyes from theclosure while the screw eyes are engaged by the chain.

4. A closure lock, as in claim 1, said means anchoring the chain to theinner side of the iamb, and said eye fastening being disposed on theinner side of the closure, and said closure Swinging inwardly and awayfrom said jamb toward an open position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS482,227 Conner Sept. 6, 1892 1,325,538 Smith Dec. 23, 1919 1,476,446Hoffman Dec. 4, 1923 2,454,794 Hakanson Nov. 30, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS21,844 Great Britain Sept. 25, 1912 16,975 Austria July 25, 1904

